One Author's Journey From Aspiring Author to Agented Author

by Sarah Rowlands

Some writers work on many manuscripts for several years before finding an agent to champion their project. My journey was different. I worked on one book for two years, then found my agent. What can I say? I’m monogamous.

My querying journey begins with a desire to write a great story, backed up with perseverance and the unequivocal need to succeed at something I believed in. I finished writing the first draft of my manuscript at age 15. It was 28,000 words and I thought it was adult fiction. I knew absolutely nothing about publishing or story and thought I had an undiscovered masterpiece. But I wasn’t even sure what to do with it, so it sat on a floppy disc for almost 20 years.

When I unearthed it in my 30s, I realized it was not, in fact, a masterpiece, but a pile of shit. But I had a soft spot for it. I kept thinking about it as I read published books and really got into young adult fiction. Something began to stir in my brain… What if my old manuscript was written for a young adult audience?

And then suddenly it was there – the idea, the drive, the home for my story. I wanted to write again. I wanted my story to be great. And I wanted to learn everything there was to know about writing a story and getting it published.

So I joined writing groups online (Twitter, Facebook) and found critique partners at sites like Agent Query Connect and Query Tracker.  I read books on craft: On Writing by Stephen King, Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, The Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig, to name my favorites.

I re-read and revised my manuscript every day, tweaking plot, character motivation, pace, etc. while following the advice of the above experts. When I felt I had something great, I shared copies of my manuscript with family members that loved to read. And while it was terrifying to show my work because I feared rejection, ridicule, failure, I learned that no matter their reaction, I had accomplished something. I was not failing even if they didn’t like it, because I had created something. I was proud of myself, even at this level of drafting. They did like it, though, and they encouraged me to keep writing. So I did.

I also researched publishing, learned what an agent does and how they champion your book by falling in love with it. I was determined to land myself an agent. So I made my first mistake: I queried agents too early. Looking back, I was about 2 years too early, because the manuscript was still in draft stages. I was too excited about my work to keep it to myself, and I hadn’t learned the valuable lesson of setting the manuscript aside and returning to it with fresh eyes. I didn’t yet know how to look at my work critically, how to think like a storyteller. I just wanted feedback.

In 2016, my querying stats were:

Queries Sent: 133
Partial Requests: 3
Full Requests: 4
No Response: 50
Rejections: 83

They’re not terrible numbers, but I see them now as opportunities wasted because my work was still too new to share. But it’s okay, because living is learning, folks!

Because I was on Twitter and readily communicating with the writing world, I became aware of #PitMad contests and Pitch Wars, among others. I participated in all of them, gathering interest from agents, but I also learned how to pitch my entire novel in 144 characters. It was a skill I still struggle with, but I learned the importance of the pitch -- discovering the marketability of your story with a succinct and interesting choice of words.

Here are some of my most popular pitches that garnished interest from agents:

1912. Teen heiress on run from fortune-hunting fiancé, teams up w/wild Irish fugitives to protect dark secret of her inheritance.

1912- Girl escapes conniving fiancé to a glen inhabited by Irish fugitives who reveal that her inheritance holds family secrets.

They’re not amazing, but they were interesting enough to spark attention. (Stats for those Twitter contests: 8 pitches, 15 “likes”) They all turned into rejections, but some were helpful and led me to more revisions….which is what I did for another year while querying.

Querying is hard. I both loved and loathed agent responses. I really wanted someone to fall in love with my writing, but no one was and I couldn’t figure out why. The subjectivity of querying is the worst part, because what one agent loves might be the reason another agent rejects. And that is excruciatingly frustrating!

I received this response to a query once: “Wow, what an opening! I love the levels of intrigue and mystery built in, and Estella is a girl after my own heart. Please send the full…” Dreamy response from an agent, right?! I was overjoyed and so, so hopeful. But the worst happened – it wasn’t even a rejection. I discovered that this agent was no longer working as an agent, and I had wasted a month waiting for her. It was a killer blow, and I remember spending most of that day listening to Adele’s “Chasing Pavement” on repeat just to wallow in self-loathing.

But the very next day, I pulled myself together because I was determined to fight for my dream. Remember the scene in A League of Their Own when Dottie whines about baseball being too hard? And Jimmy’s response is, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” You’re right, Jimmy Dugan. Let’s work harder. Let’s OWN this.

I buried myself in the craft of writing. I listened to writing/agenting podcasts, which I recommend for all writers, querying or not: Writer Writer Pants on Fire (of course!), Shipping & Handling, Writing Excuses, and 88 Cups of Tea.

I participated in more Twitter pitch contests, like #sonofapitch, #PitMad, and #revpit. I entered Author Mentor Match, Query Kombat, and various critiques from freelance editors.

At one point, I received an offer of representation from an agency I didn’t quite trust. When the agent offered representation, she also suggested I hire an editor to review my manuscript, which didn’t sit well with me. I’d read enough agent interviews and articles to know that no agency or agent worth anything will ever charge you. So I declined the offer, which was actually hard to do because I was afraid I was blowing my only chance. But I believed my book and I deserved better than “good enough”, so I trudged on.

At another point, I received an offer of publication from a new and local small press. While I was excited that someone found value in my story, what I really wanted was an agent to champion my career as a writer, beginning with this manuscript and moving beyond it. So this wasn’t the right path for me and, begrudgingly, I declined publication.

I continued to make revisions to my manuscript: discovered a new title, re-named and re-shaped my characters, rearranged scenes, developed back story, identified higher and stronger stakes, even changed the narration to first person. But there came a point when I wasn’t sure how else to make it better. I’d been giving my newest versions to my critique partners, but I felt the manuscript needed professional help.

So I hired freelance editors who provided me with edit letters that pinpointed specific issues that perhaps were the reasons agents were rejecting it. This was extremely helpful and I strongly suggest looking into freelance editors when you feel you’ve perhaps reached a stalemate in your writing and/or with your critique partners. Here is an extensive list of freelance editors who might be taking on new clients.

I entered PitchWars in 2017, including participating in the blog hops, the aesthetics, and the community chats on Twitter. These little contributions to the writing community boosted my confidence in my story by re-acquainting me with my main character. When I found out I didn’t get into PitchWars, it hurt, but I’d gained something. I knew my story inside and out. I loved it still and I loved writing. It was nearly two years into this querying process, but something was happening. Things were changing. Rejections were coming, but they were detailed and encouraging, which made me believe I was on the right track.

My querying stats for 2017 were:
Queries sent: 170
Partial Requests: 7
Full Requests: 13
No Responses: 58
Rejections: 112
Offer of Rep (declined): 1
Offer of Publication (declined): 1

In the beginning of 2018, I applied for a remote internship with a literary agent. I saw the opportunity and wanted to immerse myself in all aspects of publishing. (I applied to roughly 10 internships at that time, hoping to get my foot in the door somewhere.) The agent needed a voracious reader to help with her overwhelming load of unsolicited queries and manuscripts, and lucky for me, she saw potential in me. I worked hard, reading as many as three manuscripts a month, including producing detailed and thoughtful Reader Reports for each.

This agent had also requested my manuscript several weeks’ previous to the internship application. She was so kind and encouraging, and clearly wanted me to succeed, so she asked her other interns to read my manuscript and provide Reader Reports. Then the agent shared those reports with me and told me to take what I wanted from them and revise at will. It was such a wonderfully helpful opportunity for me, and I relished those reports and analyzed the feedback to create my own revisions.

I must admit that at this point in time, I’d been revising so much, it took a lot out of me to dedicate any real focus. I was torn; I wanted to write something new, but I also couldn’t turn my back on my manuscript. I realized the only way I’d get through more revisions would be to actually take days off from work and stay home to write. So I did, and it pushed me into the mindset I needed to be in – I WILL NOT FAIL.

I submitted my revisions to the agent I worked for and queried some new agents, too. One agent in particular was looking for “gothic novels with twisty narratives and dark secrets”, which was exactly my book.

In July of 2018, I received an email from the agent who was looking for gothic books. She loved my book, but there were a few items that didn’t work for her. She offered me an “R&R”, a Revise & Resubmit, which is an opportunity to make changes she suggested and resubmit for a second look.

Honestly, I was basically devastated that this wasn’t an offer of rep. I worked so hard on revisions and now an agent was requesting more revisions. I ignored the email for an entire day, because for the love of God, I was sick and tired of not reaching my goal! I complained to my critique partner, but instead of agreeing with me, she asked why the hell I was so angry. She reminded me that R&Rs are rare in the agenting world, and if this agent was asking for revisions, I should think about them.

“If you are asked to revise, it’s because your message is worth getting right.”
(Admittedly, I don’t remember who said this. But I love it anyway.)

I rolled this quote over and over in my head until I realized I was at a crossroads. This was a choice: give up now at a point where I might be inches from my goal, or take this opportunity by the balls and charge forward. I had charged forward for two years. Why on God’s green earth would I stop now? So I chose to CONQUER. And I wrote to the agent to tell her I’m taking on this R&R.

Here’s what my revision process looked like this time around:

1. Re-read my manuscript as it is. I downloaded my manuscript onto my Kindle and read it like it was a real book. I made notes as I read each chapter while keeping in mind the agent’s suggestions. And guess what? She was smart! Her suggestions made sense and I could see where I might incorporate those changes.

2. Make a spreadsheet of each chapter’s projected edits. Text in blue represented easy and quick changes. Text in red represented changes that would take a lot of time and thought. I always start with the lowest hanging fruit, so I dove into the “easy” edits. Once the blues were out of the way, I could see the big, red picture – the difficult edits. One at a time, little by little, I attacked.

3. Decide on a deadline. Highlight that date in the calendar and STICK TO IT. Pick a goal for each day (a chapter a day / a scene a day, etc.) and REACH IT. Note to self: If you find you’re falling away from the goal, get up at 5 a.m., go to bed at midnight – do anything to stay on this schedule. Sweat over it. Breathe it. OWN IT.

4. Get outside help. After two months of working the manuscript to the best of my ability, I hired a freelance editor who had ten years of experience as an agent. We worked out a schedule where she would get her edit letter to me well before my deadline. This meant I would have time to work on her edits before my deadline, too. She was worth every penny, because she provided more than helpful suggestions; she assured me I was on the right path with what the agent outlined.

5. Find the strength to push your book away. Let it go.

After I addressed what the editor pointed out, I sat on it, scared to let it go. This was my last chance.

But I had nothing left to give. A day before my deadline, I submitted my R&R manuscript to the agent who offered it and to nine other agents who were waiting for the revisions.
Twelve days later, I received an email from the agent who offered the R&R: Sarah, I just finished reading and would love to chat with you about it. Do you have any time today? Looking forward to it!

I was at work, and I ran into my friend’s office, shaking, shrieking, going crazy. This was it and I knew it. I called my husband. “Play it cool, Sarah,” I remember him saying. I called my parents, texted my sisters, emailed my critique partners. And then I read the email again. It was still there. It was still an agent wanting to talk to me about my book.
I spoke with the agent that afternoon and she offered me representation.

Stats for 2018 querying:
Queries Sent: 132
Partial Requests: 7
Full Requests: 15
No Response 38:
Rejections: 92
Offers of Rep: 2!

I actually received another offer of rep the next day, but ultimately I went with the agent who offered me the R&R, whom I really felt had a strong grasp on my book, who seemed to understand what I was trying to do with it. My agent is Karyn Fischer of Bookstop Literary Agency and I couldn’t be happier.

I would like to note that I didn’t necessarily “nail” the R&R, but I was close enough for Karyn to feel she could take it on. She and I have embarked on another round of revisions, but I have her guidance now, so it isn’t as scary as it once had been.

There are many morals to my tale:

1. When you think you are brilliant and your work is genius, you’re wrong. Keep working. Make it better.

2. Don’t give up on yourself or your story without a fight. Or just don’t give up at all.

3. As Mr. Stephen King says in his brilliant memoir, On Writing, “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”

Be brave.
Push yourself.
Be your own hero.

When To Walk Away From Your Manuscript & When To Hire A Professional Editor

Lots of questions coming at me in the past few weeks, most of them from Facebook. I’ll start with Jessica who asked for tips for motivation to keep writing if you’re feeling very stuck.

Good question. Here’s the thing – writing is hard. It sounds like you already knew that, but I think it helps to hear that everyone feels that way. Including me. Including every writer I know. You are not alone in feeling stuck and unmotivated.

But you didn’t ask me to make you feel better about the fact that you’re unmotivated, you asked me to tell you how to get motivated. I wish I had a fix for this that I can tell you will for sure work for everyone… but I don’t.

What I can tell you is what works for me… sometimes.

First of all, don’t feel like you have to be writing and loving it all the time in order to be a real writer. I don’t write all the time and I definitely don’t love it most of the time, and this is what I do for a living.

In other words, if you are burnt out – it’s okay. Take a break. I recommend at least a month of walking away and taking a brain re-set if you’re struggling with a particular story, and where to take it next and absolutely forcing yourself to write and move forward has not been helpful.

Usually, forcing yourself to write will unstick you. It can hurt and it’s ugly and you don’t want to do it, but once you get moving you will keep moving. It’s like forcing yourself to go the gym and workout. Once you’re there, you’ll work out.

But sometimes the make it happen approach doesn’t make it happen. In this case, I usually declare burnout and walk away. Take a break. Come back. Look at what you wrote upon your return. Chances are that you will see those old words in a new light, and quite possibly move forward as a result.

If what’s stopping you is the initial inception – as in, you haven’t written anything yet and don’t know how to start - I always advise simply running your fingers over the keys and creating a few lines of drivel. Seriously. There’s nothing more intimidating than a purely blank page, and if you create a few lines of goobledegook you don’t have an empty page anymore.

It also helps to take the simple step of writing the title, Chapter One, inserting your page numbers, and formatting for double spaces and your preferred font. It might not sound like much, but setting up those really small first things will get you moving, and once you start moving, it’s easier to keep going.

Is your problem that you don’t even have an idea and so you can’t get started?

Fair. It happens. Ingest. Read. Watch TV. Listen to music. Something will spark, I promise.

The next question came from Shannon, who asked – When do you know if a project can be scrapped or at least set aside for awhile?

Again, if you’re doing the fake it ‘til you make it approach – in other words, forcing yourself to write – and that hasn’t worked, definitely walk away. Take a month, minimum, then come back. If upon your return you are unable to become fired up about this particular manuscript any longer, maybe it’s time you consider trunking it.

I’ve got some manuscripts that are 15 or 25 thousand words deep before I realized there wasn’t a whole novel there, or that what I thought was a kernel of genius was actually just… a kernel. Kind of a hard one, that won’t crack for me.

First of all, never throw anything away. Keep it. It took 15 years for all the elements of Given to the Sea and Given to the Earth to come together for me. I made small notes and waited for everything to coalesce into a novel – in this case, two novels.

Be patient.

Another approach to having discovered that you are no longer into your manuscript is to keep it, and cannibalize it. The plot might not be working, but maybe there’s a character in there who lights up your life. Take that character out, and put them in a different story.

Maybe your characters and plot aren’t working at all but there are some great dialogue exchanges. Cool. Lift them for use elsewhere. Maybe it’s only the setting that you loved. Great. Populate it with more interesting people the next time around.

Is there absolutely nothing salvageable from your manuscript? Possibly. That was absolutely the case with the first draft of The Female of the Species, which I wrote back in the late nineties. When I returned to the draft 15 years later, I knew everything was getting scrapped – except the title and concept. But I still had done that pre-writing of learning how NOT to write the book. And that’s useful.

In other words – no writing is ever completely useless. You can walk away from a manuscript and still be a better writer than you were going into it.

Related to the idea of drafts, cannibalizing old work, and how to know when to walk away, Pamela asked, What’s your biggest recommendation for rewriting a first draft?

It depends.

How bad is that first draft?

That first draft of The Female of the Species was utterly unsalvageable. My concept was there, my writing was not. I had a good idea for a great story, and no idea how to write. I had to learn. I realized this when I returned to the book – 15 years a better and more matured writer at that point – and knew how to deliver where I hadn’t been able to before.

Are you rewriting from scratch, or are you revising and editing?

This is the big question, and if you haven’t spent enough time away from your initial manuscript you probably don’t know the answer.

My biggest advice for revising a work is to get feedback. Not from readers, and not from your mom. Get feedback from a critique partner – someone who is also a writer, preferably someone who is at about the same level you are in both writing and the publishing field, and also it helps if they write in the same genre and for the same age level as you.

What’s the difference between a reader and a critique partner?

A lot.

A reader can tell you what they liked or didn’t like, but in the end, it’s an opinion from a reader. Look up your favorite book and read the worst reviews that have been written about it. Chances are, something you loved is an element that someone else hated. A review from a reader will tell you how one particular reader would have liked to see things happen… not necessarily how to make it a better book.

A writer can read it and tell you how to improve your plot and dialogue, characterization and pacing. A writer can tell you if you are hitting it on themes and if you are doing a good job of avoiding – or maybe subverting – tropes. A writer can give you some ideas about how to fix the things that aren’t working, and know when to give you compliments on the things that are.

A lot of aspiring authors want to go straight to hiring a professional to edit their work. That’s fine, but be aware that a professional – like myself – isn’t going to handle you gently and kindly. It’s our job to make you a better writer, not be your friend or make you feel good about yourself. A thorough, honest review from a professional might not be in your best interest when you are first starting out.

A few years ago a really nice guy hired me to critique his wife’s work as a Christmas present. I did the critique, then advised him that giving it to her on Christmas morning might not be the best idea. It’s important to me to do my job thoroughly and honestly. But I also don’t want to ruin someone’s Christmas.

If you have the desire – and money – to hire a professional to go through your work, be aware that we’re going to be honest – but also be aware that a lot of the things you are paying for us to tell you could have just as easily been found by a critique partner – for free.

And lastly, Chad asked, what if you had a dream that included a really good beginning of… something?

Good question. Dreams can be a definite source of material. In fact, if you listen to the episode before this you know that Not A Drop to Drink came partially from a dream. But – only partially. Dreams can be a great jumping off point, supplying you with the germ of an idea, your genesis.

But you can’t rely on them to fill in the blanks for 362 pages. And dreams are notoriously unreliable. I’ve had some amazing imagery come across my mind at three AM, leading me to wake and feel that I’ve had a profound experience and am now a changed person.

At 3 AM.

By 8 AM I was back to feeling like Mindy McGinnis, and Mindy McGinnis at 8 AM is not an inspired being. Most of that phenomenal imagery from the dream looked like a fever with hives and off its medication by the morning.

In short, dreams can be fantastic, and I fully support using them as a springboard to something better. Something bigger. And hopefully something coherent.

As always please feel free to ask me questions through Facebook, Twitter, or email, if you have a topic or question you’d like to see addressed here on the podcast. Also, my carpal tunnel appears to be less of an issue these days, and I will be returning to the guest format in 2019.

Additionally, I do have a Go Fund Me for this podcast. It does cost me to host and distribute the show. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider donating. Even if you toss me five bucks it makes me feel better and as if you actually care about me.

You can donate either by giving to Go Fund Me, through PayPal, or you can support me by buying me a coffee, which trust me, is dearly needed.

Author Leanne Baugh On Letting Characters Lead The Way

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today's guest for the WHAT is Leanne Baugh, author of The Story of My Face, from Second Story Press.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

For my book, The Story of My Face, inspiration came from a few sources. I was a teenager who struggled with body image and I wanted to find a story thread to explore this theme. Although I didn’t want to write an “issue book”, I knew I wanted to write a story with a female protagonist on her journey of self-acceptance. The other inspiration was a book called, The Bear’s Embrace by Patricia Van Tighem. This memoir is a very moving account of a woman who was severely attacked by a grizzly bear. That book has always stayed with me and became a great source of research for me. So, I put these two things together?

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I just asked myself the question: In a society that is obsessed with beauty, how would a teenage girl with a severe facial disfigurement navigate her way to self-acceptance? And what obstacles would she face along the way? (Many, as it turns out.)

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

I try not to have the plot completely nailed down when I begin to write. I like to set the stage with a rough roadmap and then I just follow my characters around. They know where to take the story better than I do.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Sometimes I can’t write new story ideas down fast enough, and other times I’m tapping my pen on my notebook waiting for inspiration. Luckily, when the faucet is open, I usually have more than enough new material to explore. Then it’s a matter of figuring out what story really grabs me – what is the story I’m dying to tell.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

The story I end up writing is usually the one where there’s the most energy. Characters will start nudging their way to the front of the line, (“Pick me, Pick me”). Sometimes I have vivid dream of certain settings, or scenes or bits of dialogue will just pop into my mind (usually when I’m on a walk or in the shower).

I have a lot of cats and usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

No furry writing buddies to keep me company, I’m afraid. The closest buddy would be my espresso machine! Sad, isn’t it?